Ok. About once a year, a thread gets started by someone in need of dental advice. There are a couple dentists here on the taco who chime in but usually its usually full of personal accounts, which can be great but often full of incorrect information. I'm willing to go out on a limb here and post my professional information as a resource to climbers. Maybe a bad idea? But hey, if I can help out members of my tribe I'm willing to take a bit of risk. If you have dental questions, go ahead and post em here and I'll give you my two cents. I'm a periodontist, a guy who surgically treats gum disease and rebuilds the dentition with dental implants. My website and Facebook link can be a resource and you're welcome to contact me with reasonable questions.

So, feel free to post dental stuff, rants, complaints, questions, whatever, here on this thread. And feel free to visit my website and 'like" us on Facebook. We appreciate the web traffic. I've personally treated many Taco lurkers, so ask around and let me know if I can be of any help.

First of all thanks for the offer. Good professional advice can be hard to come by.

I have a question that sounds like it is right up your alley so here goes;

I had braces as a kid for about 2 1/2 years. After they came off I was a good boy and wore the retainer for as long as they told me and eventually they told me I didn't need it anymore. One of the struggles with braces was to get my back molars to touch on both sides. They used a palate expander to give me space and then pulled them down. After a few years though my molars in the back didn't touch anymore. So as you would guess I do most of my chewing with the front half of my teeth. This means that my front teeth are wearing down faster than the back teeth and 20 years later I can definitely tell that my front teeth are wearing away. My current dentist seems to think I need braces again but I'm skeptical. If they didn't work last time why would they work now? So the question is are braces a good idea? Or am I going to end up needing implants to replace my worn out front teeth at some point? are there other options? On a side note my dads teeth were also heavily worn and he ended up with a full set of veneres (spelling)

awesome, thanks. too bad the nutcases are already at it with the nonsense, but i'll take you up with your more than generous offer.

had a rear molar that could not have a full root canal performed due to calcification. i chose to to go ahead and have a "best you can do" with the endodontist with a partial canal and buildup. this also required a lowering as they called it due to a cavity at jawline. was this a bad idea (after the fact)? the other option was an implant but seemed like if this works for a while so much the better. though, the other way to look at this could be a lot of wasted $. any thoughts?

i too worked with a periodontist for an implant. costs a small fortune and takes a while but it's bomber. as others have weighed in, wouldn't go to just any dentist for one of these. in fact, have seen where someone suggested only working with oral surgeons, probably my last choice for this procedure given my admittedly limited knowledge. surgeons seem more adept at pulling as opposed to planting.

Whoa,
just got out of a surgery and stoked to see that folks might dig this thread. What have I gotten myself into? How do I delete a thread?

I'm on lunch, so here's a couple quick answers.

Comic: 2300-2700 for the surgical implant placement. A bit more if we need to do bone grafting to augment lost bone volume in the site. The general dentist then charges anywhere between about 800.00-1200.00 for the tooth/crown that goes on it. Expensive, I know, but its a life changer for a lot of people to avoid dentures, avoid a bridge, and buy something that should last a lifetime. Titanium does not decay. Very few things in life cost 3-4k that can last for the rest of your life.

Cragman: Awesome photo, can I use that on my website?

Munge: Great question. Most dental insurance companies are sharks. They exist for one reason, to make money for themselves. No other reason. They get "paid" a grand or so a year in premiums. They shell out 200 bucks for a couple cleanings, 200 for some x-rays and some flouride. Bam. they pocket 600.00 for the year. They cringe when they have to pay more and will lie cheat and steal and deny claims and ask us providers to re-submit over and over ad nauseum hoping we just give up. They have an annual maximum of around 1-2k. A good root canal and a single crown costs more than that. Delta Dental had an annual maximum of $1,000 back in the 1980s when a crown cost 300.00 and a cleaning cost 50.00. You used to be able to get a lot done for the insurance allowance. Now, it just aint the case. ANd that's with the big three or four companies that actually have ok coverage. The hundreds of other anklebiter companies are truly just scams. Buyer beware sadly. But if your employer offers it, take it and be grateful, its costly to him/her and you get some money toward your maintenance.

Spanky: Gimme time on this one, I'm a lousy typist.

T*R: Those things have research that shows they work at least as good as floss. They're a bit gimmicky but they really do work. Floss is cheap, so I don't push those things much. Studies show that if you do anything at all to disrupt the plaque every 24-36 hrs, you can avoid gum disease. But you gotta get in between the teeth, and a toothbrush alone won't cut it. If everybody starts flossing, I'm outta work.

FTOR: Let me get back to you on this.

And Munge, yeah, I drink too much Coke. It does and will rot your teeth. Stick a baby tooth or a tooth pulled from a dentist in a cup of diet or real coke. SHow your kids how long it takes to dissolve into nothing. its a fun science trick. I'm a good flosser and eat well otherwise though. The PH and the carbonic and the unreal sugar content have kept us dentists in business for the past 20 years. That and people who don't believe in flouride and think it's poison. We figued out how to keep gum disease and decay off the map 40 years ago. Brush twice daily. Floss once daily. Get flouride in your water. See a hygienist every six months. Done. Decay and gum disease should have been eradicated. But people love to not take care of themselves. Its in our nature. We also figured out how to cure/avoid type II diabetes. But its a 4 billion a year industry because people love to neglect themselves and their children. Sad.

Not that Micronut doesn't have all the answers anyway, but if you have a general dentistry question and want a perspective from someone who has worked in the US, Canada and seen patients in Mexico, Venezuela, Guyana, India, Myanmar, Guam, Guatemala, Nicaragua, etc. I've answered a lot of PM questions over the years from the Taco.

I haven't ever seen Micronut give an answer to anything non-perio that isn't backed up by the latest research I know about which is amazing since the saying goes, 'put 4 dentists in a room and you'll have 5 opinions'.

Spanky,
Here goes. Orthodontics has come a long way in the past 20 years, even the past five honestly. They used to use heavy wires, heavy forces, and often "did the best the could" to level and align teeth into proper esthetics and function. They also didn't know about how sneaky teeth are in their propensity to "go back home" or rotate, twist and settle back into the place they started. Now, orthodontists basically tell kids and adults, "retention/retainers for life."

Now, amazingly, they use much lighter wires, much lighter forces and better technology and science (no doubt from learning from the past), to more precisely align teeth and place the chewing and functioning forces where they are most needed and evenly distributed. I often recommend adult orthodontics (DONE ONLY BY A SELECT FEW ORTHODONTISTS WHO KNOW THE CRAFT WELL) to people who had it done in the past either without great results or with significant relapse. In some cases, Invisalign is a great option, in others, its the full monty. But, if done well, I've seen adult ortho change peoples lives and or create stability, without which, they would have faced a real and debilitating decline in the coming years. I have had two of my own staff treated in the past few years. One 40 one 52. Both looked my orthodontist friend in the eye and said, "you jack me up and I'll kill you." I recommend that approach. If he squirms, walk. If not, you might be in the right place. Its a big investment, but it can be great and much needed for lots of folks.